Texas Real Estate Daily

Building inspections are nothing new to builders, but there are new laws regarding those inspections for the entire state of Texas. Rashi Vats explains how those new regulations could affect us in Texoma.

If your home is being built after September 1, it will have to be inspected three times over the course of construction, and after that construction is completed. That’s according to new statewide regulations now in effect.

Builders say the goal of those new regulations is to keep homes in Texas consistent and safe.

“They made it to where the builders are required to get a licensed inspector once you start,” Scott Bates, vice president of the Ceci Bates Group, says.

Now all of the supplies and construction methods must follow stricter guidelines and be looked over by licensed inspectors more thoroughly.

“We’ll have a third party inspector and come out and as we are ready to pour out the foundation then he’ll come out and inspect the plumbing.”

“The city of Sherman is one of the toughest in the area in inspection but we try to do all our stuff to code no matter where we operate,” subcontractor John Walters says.

Officials say the consistency will lead to a better quality of life in the Lone Star State.

“Better quality living in homes. Get a more consistent product”

“It’s about safety. They’re going to have a better, safer home when it’s complete.”

Credits:KXII

Old newspapers, phone books and lottery tickets are trapped within the walls of three homes in Mason.

Mason Greenstar, a new company settling into Mason, is mixing recycled paper with water and cement to create home building blocks to use in place of the conventional wood framing and cement cinder blocks.

Zach Rabon started the company.

“I was just fascinated with the amount of waste that was going into every one of those homes,” said Zach Rabon. “Not to mention all the different crews that had to go into the process of construction itself.”

Rabon plans on sticking to his motto: ‘one material, one crew.’ Each block weighs about 17 pounds and is made of 65 percent recycled paper. When they stack up and are cemented down, they create a monolithic wall.

The material is designed to do more than create less waste in the landfill.

“I have a 3,200 square foot home, and my electric bill runs about $130 a month,” said Rabon.

Rabon built his first “paper block” home for himself. Not only do the walls keep the heat out in the summer, but they help retain heat in the winter. He says home insurance is lower, because the blocks do not succumb to termites, mold, fire, and even bullets.

For Rabon’s father, a fellow home builder, it is the environmental side he has warmed up to.

“I just don’t believe we can afford to cut down anymore trees for houses,” said Kent Rabon.

He also enjoys the Santa Fe style look the walls create.

With so many wood framed homes going up, finding crews with the right skill set to build the homes may the biggest challenge.

“This is very nice, because it is standard masonry and that’s done around the world, but a majority of the frame homes in United States use a different skill set,” said Mason Greenstar investor Ed Risinger.

Risinger is confident the building ‘green’ trend is here to stay.

Equipment is being transferred to mass produce the blocks at their first plant in Mason. The plan is to open up five additional plants across the U.S. over the next five years.  For more information on the material, visit their Web site.

What do you think about this new way of making homes?

Credits: KXAN